I need your help, please

Hi from my job, otherwise known these days as The Realm of Fear and Uncertainty. (Yep, on top of everything else, I recently learned that my PR job might be on the chopping block soon, due to some significant changes in my client's company and this sentence is getting so long blahblahblahblahblahblahblah.)

That was boring as hell, sorry.

OK, here's the favor I'm begging for, and I'll get to how this desperate post relates to Second Life at the end.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and, as such, my favorite time of the year (workwise) because my client champions this cause. Therefore, it's one of the rare times when I can get really passionate about my work and actually feel like I'm making a difference in others' lives.

(Hey - "as such" and "therefore" in one paragraph - take THAT, high-school English teachers!)

One in four U.S. women has been the victim of domestic abuse, including 21 percent of women who work full-time.

We're planning (RL) activities throughout the month to assist regional victims of domestic abuse (and you probably won't be surprised to learn that it's a HUGE problem here in the South). But before we can get things rolling, we need a certain number of people (the more, the better) to "Like" our official Facebook pages.

If you have a Facebook account and you have a moment, I'd appreciate your help IMMENSELY. Although real faces are preferred, maybe FB and my client wouldn't have a problem with AVs. Well . . . unless someone reported them as fake people. :(

Let me assure you that even if you become a RL fan of these pages, I won't be able to access your real FB pages because of it.

So if you're in an amicable mood today, please click "like" on the following pages:

HopeLine West Tennessee
HopeLine Arkansas
HopeLine North Mississippi
HopeLine Oklahoma

Believe me, that simple click will ultimately help battered women: The more people who show an interest in these pages, the more money my client is likely to invest into some of the programs my team has proposed.

Oh, and how this relates to Second Life? First, I know a startling number of people in SL who are or have been victims of domestic abuse. In fact, many say that the support they've found in SL has helped them heal from this trauma. My heart breaks for these people - believe me, you are in my prayers. In fact, if you want to publicly share your stories of escape, recovery, healing or ongoing struggles, I'd be honored to lend you the blog post space for it - or tell your story for you. You'd be amazed at how much love there is in Second Life - I discovered this fact when I shared my own pain here. I have so many people to thank, but I still can't really write about how amazing you guys have been without getting emotional.

Second, if these pages aren't successful, it could be one of a few things that would be the final nails in my possibly soon-to-be coffin of unemployment. (That was a horrible metaphor - sorry. But it's Halloween!)

And if I don't have a job, I won't have money. If I don't have money and a job, I'll probably have to cut back on my SL involvement and do serious things - like look for a job and worry about money.

And that would suck.

Thank you for reading this post. I'm sorry it's a little out of the ordinary. I'm asking everyone I can think of.

I hope you're all having a joyous day.

Love, Em